A trichologist or 'hair doctor' says the rise in veganism has caused an increase in cases of hair loss — this is her advice on how to prevent it

Anabel Kingsley is a
trichologist at the Philip Kingsley clinic in Mayfair,
London.Anabel
Kingsley

Business Insider spoke to Anabel Kingsley, a
trichologist and the daughter of the famous hair
guru Philip Kingsley.

Kingsley is seeing more cases of telogen effluvium, a
reactive hair loss which leads to excessive shedding,
particularly among young women.

She points to the rise of nutritional deficiencies
caused by fad diets, as well as the popularity of veganism and
vegetarianism.

While Kingsley is not the first to suggest a link
between the two there is a lack of research in the
field.

Trichologist Anabel Kingsley, daughter of the late "celebrity
hair doctor" Philip Kingsley, has spent years studying the hair
and scalp.

Currently based at the family's world renowned clinic in Mayfair,
London, she recently spoke out about her own experience of hair
loss that she suffered following the death of her father in 2016.

Kingsley told Business Insider that she is seeing more and more
cases of hair loss at her clinic, particularly among young women.
The reasons for this, according to Kingsley? The rise of the fad
diet, as well as the sharp increase in popularity of veganism and
vegetarianism.

'Hair thinning' is a gradual reduction in volume

There are two types of hair loss, according to Kingsley.

The first is a gradual reduction in volume, otherwise known as
"hair thinning." This is more common in older women but can also
occur in young women as part of a genetic predisposition to
follicle sensitivity.

This means that the hair follicles on your scalp are overly
sensitive to normal levels of male hormones. "If you're
experiencing thinning it doesn’t mean you have more hormones than
you should, just that you're more sensitive to them," she said.

"It's hard to say whether more women are losing their hair or
just that more are speaking out about it, as it's now less of a
taboo subject. With it being in the press more and more, women
have the confidence to speak out."

And Kingsley points to the rise of the fad diet and, in
particular, the popularity of veganism and vegetarianism for the
latter.

"Diets can be helpful if you're incredibly mindful, but often
people aren't," she said. "Hair is not an essential tissue,
meaning the body can physically survive without it, even if you
are really careful it can be hard to get the protein and iron for
hair to grow healthily.

"If you're not eating enough of the correct foods or your body is
not absorbing enough of the nutrients, this can result in
excessive shredding," she said. "Even if you're only slightly
deficient in a nutrient, the body withholds this from the hair
first."

She added that her clients seeking specialist help for this type
of hair loss often appear fit and healthy in all other respects.

While she has also seen more cases of crash dieting, restrictive
eating, and unbalanced vegan and vegetarian diets causing telogen
effluvium in men in recent years, they are less likely to be iron
and ferritin (stored iron) deficient than women as they do not
menstruate — and these deficiencies are common causes of hair
loss.

Vegan and veggie diets don't give the hair what it needs

"I can completely understand my clients' reasons for being vegan
or veggie, but it's very difficult with those diets to combine
the correct food groups to give the hair what it needs," Kingsley
said.

"For example, fish and eggs have all eight essential amino acids
(proteins) that you need, while a grain or legume would only have
a few of those. If you only get one set from a source of protein
you need to get the rest from something else."

Kingsley advises her vegan and vegetarian clients to up their
protein intake and look up the different components of each
protein to make sure they are getting all the amino acids they
need. "We also recommend they take a vegan-friendly protein
supplement," she added.

"Your body can make most amino acids on its own, but eight of
them (called essential amino acids), it cannot. They therefore
have to be consumed daily."

Getting enough iron is key — even in supplement form

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on
Unsplash

For those of us thinking we're getting enough iron from leafy
greens, that might not be the case.

"Iron is really, really important, particularly for women who are
menstruating," Kingsley said. "And the iron in dark leafy greens
like spinach and kale is actually very difficult for the body to
absorb — you might only be getting about 3% of it.”

She generally recommends taking iron supplements — the slow
releasing type are usually better, she says, as they don't cause
as many side effects. However, they must be combined with vitamin
C, as without that the body cannot absorb the iron.

Finding a B12 source is important for vegans because it's mainly
found in animal products.

"The body stores B12 for three years so you might not notice a
deficiency straight away, but it will happen if you don't get it
from other sources."

Kingsley added that if you've dramatically changed your diet or
been unwell and it has sent hairs into the "telegen phase" you
won’t see excessive hair fall immediately — instead, you'll
notice it up to three months later.

"If you feel like you're losing too much hair, you need to think
back to what you were doing/eating [a few months earlier]," she
said. "Did you have a fever, were you on a juice fast?

"It can be quite comforting for my clients just knowing that
there's a a definitive reason why they have been losing hair."

Although Kingsley is not the first to suggest a link between
cutting out meat and dairy with hair loss, there is a lack of
conclusive research into the field.

An article published in the NCBI, said that "while iron
deficiency (ID) is the world’s most common nutritional deficiency
and a well-known cause of hair loss, it remains unclear what
degree of ID may contribute to hair loss."

It added that "vegans and vegetarians are also at higher risk for
ID, as their requirements for dietary iron are considered to be
1.8 times higher than for meat consumers. It may also be the
result of a reduction of storage iron,
measured by serum ferritin.

"Although multiple studies have been conducted, it is unknown if
a deficiency of storage iron contributes to hair loss, as
conflicting results have been noted," it went on.